Horse Archer
"When you sit at my table, I am your servant. When you sleep beside my fire, I am your protector. When we ride into battle, I owe you nothing." Advanced (RotIQ) Ungol horse archers are expert marksmen and are celebrated as some of the finest light cavalry in the Old World. Their skills with scimitar, spear, and horse bow are expertly honed hunting kyazak on the Endless Steppe, a land they constantly patrol at the order of the Tzarina. Their most common tactic is to circle their enemy and pour arrow after arrow into them. Amongst the embattled Ungols of the Troll Country, all able-bodied individuals are required to fight, especially when Chaos marauders attack. Thus, it is common to find women amongst rotas of northern horse archers, a tradition southern Kislevites sometimes find difficult to accept. Main Profile Secondary Profile Skills: Academic Knowledge (Strategy/Tactics) (Int), Command (Fel) or Navigation (Int), Common Knowledge (Kislev or Troll Country) (Int), Consume Alcohol (T), Dodge Blow (Ag), Outdoor Survival (Int), Perception (Int), Ride (Ag), Speak Language (Kislevarin or Ungol) (Int) Talents: Coolheaded or Hardy, Mighty Shot or Sure Shot, Rapid Reload or Quick Draw, Specialist Weapon Group (Cavalry) Trappings: Horse archers are warriors all. They wear leather jacks and leggings that often feature good luck charms made from of locks of hair or pieces of lightning-struck metal. Horse archers are also well-armed, as they are equipped with cavalry spears (as demilance), Kislevite horse bows with quivers containing 20 arrows, 20 armour-piercing arrows, and at least 5 screamer and 5 incendiary arrows. They ride Kislevite warhorses equipped with saddles and harnesses and common gear to survive in the oblast, such as saddle bags filled with rations, water skins, and a yurta. Career Entries Horse Master, Noble, Peasant, Steppes Nomad Career Exits Captain, Horse Master, Mercenary, Scout, Steppes Nomad, Targeteer, Veteran Ungol Customs Ungol women are prohibited from switching clans by way of marriage, which means that Ungol men must often leave their stanitsas to find eligible wives. Horse archers are especially inclined to marry women from other clans because their patrols bring them into frequent contact with neighbours. When a horse archer marries into another clan, his original clan is paid a dowry for the loss of a valuable warrior. Because horse archers hold such prominent status on the steppes, they are accustomed to receiving warm hospitality wherever they go. This sense of entitlement can make horse archers appear arrogant, but if welcomed they are genuinely helpful and appreciative guests. The Ungol codes of hospitality are taken very seriously, even in lands where they aren’t enforced by law. Horse archers often have difficulty adapting to non-Ungol cultures, so usually emigrants resettle to the Kislevite ghettos of foreign cities. Horse archers who emigrate south remain faithful to their gods Ursun, Dazh and Tor. Those who fight alongside men of the Empire may also pay respects to Taal or Ulric. Kislevites are generally wary of discussing their beliefs with superstitious foreigners, for the difference between spirits and daemons is often misunderstood. Ancestor spirits are revered openly, however. For a culture without a written tradition, oral history is the only means of preserving its greatest legends. Ogulai the White Fox One of the great heroes of Ungol folklore, Ogulai the White Fox, occupies legendary status in several of the northernmost stanistas. Kislevite historians have proposed conflicting estimates of the period when Ogulai roamed the steppes on his white steed, foiling beasts and greenskins with one clever ploy after another. The style of the oldest cave paintings suggest that Ogulai lived during an age before Sigmar. The most famous of Ogulai’s tales, Valley of the Sun, is retold to every Ungol child as a fable on the dangers of complacency. In this tale, Ogulai’s tribe finds a verdant valley along the Urskoy River and settles at a ruined dwarf hold, despite the wise women warning that goblins would find them. Food was abundant for many seasons and the tribe’s horses grew fat, until one day the wise women’s prophecy came true. Ogulai pleaded with Dazh, the god of fire and sun, to deliver his people from the goblins, offering to sacrifice the clan’s first foal every spring thenceforth. When the goblins poured across the river, night turned to day and Ogulai rode past his blinded foes to slay their chieftain. Ogulai’s tribe escaped from the valley, but to this day superstitious Ungol clans burn the spring’s first foal on a great pyre to uphold Ogulai’s ancient bargain. Tearful children are reminded by their parents that a single foal is only a small price to pay for the favour of Dazh.